Paige Turner

Southland farmers may soon be able to pull gravel from rivers and their own properties without going through a resource consent process, under proposals announced by National at the South Island Election Conference. Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds has backed the plans, saying gravel build-up in local rivers is already a

The grounds around Invercargill's new regional museum are being reshaped, with landscaping works now under way as the Museum of Southland moves closer to its 2027 opening. Pathways, planting, seating and gathering spaces are all part of an exterior programme designed to pull the museum, Queens Park and

Gore District Council has dropped its support for the Government's Head Start local government reforms — not because it wants amalgamation, but because it wants residents to get a vote. The decision, made Tuesday, shifts the district's position toward the Local Government Commission process, which requires any

Southland patients have a new diagnostic scanner — and it does more than one job. Southland Hospital's radiology department has installed a GE Aurora SPECT-CT scanner, combining nuclear medicine and CT imaging technology in a single machine. It's already in use. Health New Zealand general manager of

Around 440,000 New Zealanders aren't enrolled to vote — and the deadline to fix that is October 25. The Electoral Commission is posting 3.6 million enrolment packs to enrolled voters from August 17 to 22, ahead of the 2026 General Election on November 7. The packs let

Invercargill Airport deliberately cut its own power last month to find out what would happen. The answer, it turns out, was worth knowing. The airport ran a planned blackout exercise, pulling mains power from the terminal, control tower and Airport Fire Service to test how critical systems switched to generator

A Gore district councillor's use of the word "gay" to describe a staff presentation cost ratepayers $8200 plus GST to investigate. Councillor Donna Bruce made the remark to fellow councillor Robert McKenzie during a workshop in April. McKenzie lodged a code of conduct complaint. The investigation

Southland's recycling contamination rate has dropped, but 811 tonnes of recyclables still ended up in landfill last year. That's $309,639 worth of waste — at the current general waste fee — that could have been recycled. The contamination rate across kerbside recycling and public drop-off fell to